Google Ads offers a variety of campaign types where ad copy is required. Contrary to what one might think, this doesn’t apply solely to the Search Network. Ad copy can also be added in Display campaigns or Performance Max, which are also displayed across the Google Display Network.
Ads within each campaign type differ significantly from one another. Therefore, it’s not surprising that there are also differences when it comes to ad copy requirements. Depending on the ad type, the character count is specifically limited. There are also different types of ad copy available, including headlines, long headlines, descriptions, call-to-action (CTA), or URL paths.
The tables below outline the specific types of ad copy and character limits available in:
Field | Maximum Length |
Headlines (minimum 3, maximum 15) |
30 characters each |
Descriptions (minimum 2, maximum 4) |
90 characters each |
Path (2 elements separated by “/”) |
15 characters each |
Field | Maximum Length |
Headlines |
Automatically generated |
2 Descriptions |
90 characters each |
Path (2) |
Automatically generated |
Field | Maximum Length |
Headlines (maximum 5) |
30 characters each |
Long Headline |
90 characters |
Descriptions (maximum 5) |
90 characters each |
Business Name |
25 characters |
Field | Maximum Length |
Headline |
15 characters |
Call-to-Action |
10 characters
|
Field | Maximum Length |
Headlines (maximum 15) |
30 characters each |
Long Headlines (maximum 5) |
90 characters each |
Short Ad Text |
60 characters |
Descriptions (maximum 4) |
90 characters each |
Business Name |
25 characters |
Field | Maximum Length |
Headlines (maximum 5 for single image and video ads, one for carousel ads) |
40 characters each |
Long Headlines (maximum 5, only for In-Feed video ads) |
90 characters each |
Descriptions (maximum 5 for single image and video ads, one for carousel ads) |
90 characters each |
Business Name |
25 characters |
You can find detailed guidelines for each ad type in Demand Gen campaigns here.
Many experts consider headlines to be the most relevant elements of Google Ads. Why? Well, most people don’t even read the text below the headline and decide whether to click the advertisement only on the basis of its heading. Therefore, already at this stage it’s very important to:
The principles described above apply also to the texts of advertisements with more characters which give you much more possibilities. The displayed URL should convince users that after clicking on the link they’ll be redirected to the exact website they’re looking for. In the subsequent parts of our article we’ll discuss how to maximally benefit from the available advertising space and what to focus on when creating specific elements of text ads.
Write for users, not for yourself. It’s a rule that needs to be followed if you want to be successful in reaching your potential customers.
However, before you start creating advertisements, you should answer a few very important questions concerning your recipients:
You can retrieve this kind of information from your everyday communication with customers or from analytical tools such as Google Analytics. Thanks to this knowledge, you’ll be able to tailor the message and line of argument to specific recipients, interact with them or profile your offer as a dedicated product or an individual service. Consequently, potential customers will definitely comprehend your ads and perceive the offer as more valuable.
Advertising texts should outline benefits of purchasing a product or service, affect the decision making process and encourage users to take action that is desired by your business. First and foremost, the content of your advertisements ought to answer the most basic question “why should I buy this product?”. Here, it’s very important to expose your Unique Selling Points, meaning all the features that make your products or services stand out from the competition on the market. These can be elements such as:
There are numerous methods to maintain your competitive edge and outline the uniqueness of your offer, that’s why it’s essential not only to take into consideration elements which affect the decision making process but also to focus on the most prominent assets of your offer.
AIDA is an initialism of four words that reflect four possible purchasing stages that your customers can currently be at. You’ll need different communication methods depending on the sales funnel stage your customers are at.
A – Attention – it’s about building brand, product or service recognition. The advertisement is supposed to engage customers. Here, you should use inspiring quotes and catchy slogans.
I – Interest – it’s about focusing on the customers’ interest in given products. The recipient is already familiar with the brand and its offer but hasn’t specified the exact models or services they’re looking for. At this stage, the advertisement is supposed to appeal to the customer through a wide range of products or unique features and help in choosing the right model.
D – Desire – at this stage you should do your best to convince users that they have to purchase a given product or service. The advertisement serves as a measure which aims at persuading customers that they really need your goods. Now you should present either reasonable or emotional factors that will make customers want to possess your products or services.
A – Action – this is the final step consisting in purchasing the product, making an inquiry or filling in the form. At this stage, your customers know their expectations and needs, therefore, they enter a specific model or service name in the search engine. They expect advertisements to meet their requirements and the websites to offer the specific goods they’re looking for.
CTA – Call to Action – is supposed to encourage users to click on the advertisement and perform a specific action on your website. If you want your CTA to convert, or to put it simply to be clicked on, you need to make sure that it attracts visitors’ attention. As if often happens that looking at the advertisement and making a decision to click on it takes several seconds, it’s a good idea to place your CTA already in the headline. CTA buttons like “learn more”, “check out”, “read”, “make an appointment” or “sign up for” suggest users what they should do after seeing the ad and encourage them to take specific steps after being redirected to the website. The AIDA principle can be really helpful in selecting appropriate CTAs. A customer who is at the first stage of the sales funnel will need slogans such as “check out”, “earn more”, “find your dream home” or “find perfect gifts” to make sure that your offer is indeed so unique. On the other hand, if you’re dealing with persons who are familiar with your brand or offer, you can use CTAs like “buy now”, “order online” or “call today”.
In today’s world most companies and portals are doing their best to attract customers’ attention. It’s not easy to push yourself forward through so much information and ads of your competition, even once your advertisement has been displayed. Above we’ve discussed a few methods such as CTA, selling value and content tailored to the recipients that might be really helpful. However, this isn’t the end. What more can you do to ensure that your advertisements achieve satisfactory results? Below you can find a few valuable tips that are worth considering:
Assets (formerly known as extensions) in Google Ads allow you to include additional information in your ads to encourage users to choose your business. Moreover, ads with assets take up more space on the search engine results page, which increases your ad’s visibility. Assets typically increase the ad’s click-through rate by a few percentage points. Among these, we can distinguish call assets, information assets, sitelinks, price assets, and promotion assets.
To find out more about assets go to: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375499?hl=en
The quality score comprises the quality of advertisements, keywords and landing pages. More valuable ads can ensure lower CPC and bids, and more importantly, higher position of your advertisement, that’s why it’s worth working on improving your quality score by, for example, making your ad content more substantial. The accuracy of the advertisement determines the extent to which its content corresponds to the keyword used. The more your ads and landing page correspond to the users’ search queries, the better your quality score.
To make your advertisement more accurate, you can:
You should always take into consideration Google’s editorial requirements when creating your advertisements. If you fail to comply with these principles, your ads probably won’t be accepted.
In Google Ads, it’s forbidden to:
If you want to find out more, go to https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6021546?hl=en
The discussed Google Ads copywriting rules certainly don’t cover all the possibilities and functionalities you can take advantage of in order to create effective and valuable advertisements. However, thanks to knowing some basic mechanisms and principles which govern Google Ads advertising, you’ve a perfect starting point for further analysis and experiments. You’ll be able to create and work out the most effective advertisements for a given industry or a target group using only your own experience and collected data.
Most importantly make sure to:
It seems hard to fit all these elements in one short ad text, but trust us – it’s not that hard and can make your ad significantly more effective 😉
AIDA is an acronym of Attention – Interest – Desire – Action and it’s a marketing rule that applies to customers’ purchasing stages. According to the rule, you should come up with different communication methods for each stage of the purchasing funnel.
Should you use it? Sure! AIDA really helps to put yourself in potential customers’ shoes and therefore prepare content that will be most appealing to them. With that chances are your ad will win their attention and will convert.
CTA ( also referred to as ‘Call-To-Action’) is a part of an advertisement that encourages users to perform desired (by ad creator) action. It can be as simple as “Click here” more creative (and those work the best) like “find your dream home”, “explore your growth possibilities”, etc.
CTA is a very important part of every ad content, so you should really spend a while to make it the most effective. It can even have a crucial role in making users click on your ad 🙂